Concrete block making machine



April 7, 1964 w, G. BENJEY ETAL 3,127,657

CONCRETE BLOCK MAKING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 9, 1 962mmvrom M/l'l/l'am G. B'er/ey 8 Wi/l/am D. Reyna/d5 BY ATTURNEY.

April 7, 1964 w s. BENJEY ETAL 3,127,657

CONCRETE BLOCK MAKING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 9, 1962uvmvrons & l V/W/am Q Fe no/afs ATIURNEY.

W/W/am 6. Ben/2y April 7, 1964 w. G. BENJEY ETAL 3,127,657

CONCRETE BLOCK MAKING MACHINE Filed March 9, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 5 b@*l 42 w r m i 9 WE/GH 554M TRIP OFF OFF Ms cuev T055 9 AME: U W

MANUAL 294 \L95 9o INVENTORJ W/W/am Gian/2 MY/famD. Peyno/ds A ORNEY.

April 7, 1964 w. e. BENJEY ETAL 3,127,657

CONCRETE BLOCK MAKING MACHINE Filed March 9, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTORJ ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,127,657 CONCRETE BUICK MAKING MACHINE William G.Benjey and William I). Reynolds, Alpena, Mich, assignors to AlpenaResearch 8: Development Company, Alpena, Mich, a corporation of MichiganFiled Mar. 9, 1962, Ser. No. 178,589 7 Claims. (Cl. 25-41) Thisinvention relates to a concrete block making machine and moreparticularly to a machine incorporating several novel features whichcontribute to the rapid and efficient production of concrete masonryblocks.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a concreteblock making machine that will accurately weigh and measure the materialused thereby so that the concrete blocks are uniform in size, weight,and density.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a concrete blockmaking machine that will feed mixed concrete aggregate automatically andrapidly without varying the amount or weight of the concrete aggregatesupplied.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a concrete blockmaking machine that incorporates a novel mold box and means foroscillating the same on diiferent planes.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a concrete blockmaking machine incorporating a novel packer head arranged to move intothe mold box to compress mixed concrete aggregate therein in conjunctionwith the vertical oscillation of the mold box.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a concreteblock making machine having means for supplying a measured amount ofblock forming material to a block forming device including a mold boxand a packer head and means for operating said mold box and packer headso as to comprise the block forming material and provide a troweilingeffect on the sides of the block being formed.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a concreteblock making machine having means for feeding and measuring materialfrom which the concrete blocks are formed, arranged so that the amountof material is determined by weight and not volume and so designed torepeat without appreciable variance.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a concreteblock making machine in which block making material is automaticallymeasured and supplied into a block forming portion and wherein means areprovided for removing the formed blocks from the block forming portionin an automatic sequence of operations.

The concrete block forming machine disclosed herein incorporates severalnovel devices and functions which are particularly advantageous in theart. The novel devices and functions are such that they may be appliedto other forms of material molding such as briqueting. The block makingmachine is designed so that it may be operated continuously byrelatively unskilled labor and it Will operate efficiently and rapidlyas long as suitable material is supplied to its material hopper and thecompleted blocks are removed from the block receiving pallets thereof.There are no parts that require critical adjustment and the constructionis such that little lubrication is necessary and the machines componentsare so arranged so that they will operate in their desired cycle withoutmanual assistance.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being the intention to cover all changes andmodifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposesof the disclosure, which do not con- Patented Apr. 7, 1964 ice stitutedepartures from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the concrete block making machine.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section of the upper half of the machine shown inFIGURE 1 and taken on line 2--2 thereof.

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional elevation on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view.

FIGURE 5 is a wiring diagram of that part of the electrical circuitcontrolling the feed conveyer portion of the concrete block makingmachine.

FIGURE 6 is a wiring diagram of the several parts of the electricalcircuits controlling the other parts of the concrete block makingmachine.

By referring to the drawings and FIGURE 1 in particular, it will be seenthat the concrete block making machine comprises a framework preferablyformed of two vertically positioned, horizontally spaced side panels 10and 11. A transverse frame member 12 is positioned between the panels 10and 11 in the upper front portion thereof and a secondary frame member13 is positioned between the panel members It and 11 adjacent theirlower ends and on the same vertical plane as the frame member 12. Theframe members 12 and 13 are apertured inwardly from their ends andresilient bushings 14, 1d are positioned in the apertures in verticallyaligned pairs and a pair of support rods 15, 15 are positionedvertically through the resilient bushings 14, 14 and form a resilientsub frame which is capable of movement relative to the remainder of themachine as will be hereinafter explained.

A plurality of tie rods or second frame members 16, 16 are positionedtransversely of the side panels 10 and 11 and support various mechanismsincorporated in the machine.

In the upper rear portion of the machine as best seen in FIGURES 1 and4, a pair of said secondary frame members 16 are arranged to support ahopper 17 which is open at its upper and lowermost ends and adapted toreceive the mixed concrete aggregate used in making concrete blocks.Longitudinal frame members 18, 18 secured at their ends to the secondaryframe members 16, 16 carry journals 19, 19 which in turn support a pairof rollers 20, 20 over which a continuous conveyer feed belt 21 ispositioned. It will be observed that the conveyer belt 21 has its uppersurface disposed adjacent the open bottom end of the hopper 17 so thatmaterial in the hopper will be continuously deposited on the conveyerbelt 21 and moved, when the conveyer belt 21 is operating,longitudinally thereof and off the forward edge thereof as seen inFIGURE 1 of the drawings.

Means for moving the conveyer belt 21 comprises a motor 22 driving rightangular gear box 23 which in turn supports a pulley 24 over which achain 25 is trained. The chain 25 is also trained over a sprocket on oneof the rollers 20, the motor 22 is connected in an electrical circuitand controlled by a mercury switch as hereinafter described.

Immediately below the conveyer feed belt 21, there are a pair ofsecondary longitudinal frame members 26, 26 which are spacedhorizontally a distance greater than the longitudinal frame members 18,18 heretofore referred to and which are supported intermediate theirends by brackets 27, 27 which in turn are pivotally mounted on anotherone of the sub frame members 16, 16. Journals 28, 28 on the secondarylongitudinal frame members 26, 26 support a pair of secondary rollers29, 29' which in turn have a secondary conveyer weighing belt 30 trainedthereover. One of the rollers 29 has a sprocket 3-1 on one end thereofand one of the brackets 27 has a horizontal extension 32 thereon whichcarries a motor 33 having an attached gear box 34, all of which arepivotally balanced on the sub frame 16 with the forward end (the rightend in FIG- URES 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings) of the secondary conveyerweighing belt 31} positioned above a chute 39. Broken lines in FIGURE 2show the alternate position of the tiltable conveyer weighing beltassembly. A mercury switch 40 located on one of the brackets 27 is wiredinto the electrical circuit controlling and supplying the motor 22heretofore referred to. Thus, when the concrete block making machine isoperating and the lower or secondary conveyer weighing belt 30' isstationary, the upper conveyer feed belt 21 is started and material inthe hopper '17 is fed onto the feed belt 21 and deposited thereby on theweighing belt 30 at a point forward or to the right of the secondaryframe 16 on which the weighing belt 30, its support arms 26 and itsdrive motor 33 are pivotally mounted. When a predetermined amount ofmaterial, by weight, accumulates on the weighing belt 30 the entireassembly tilts as from the solid line showing in FIGURE 2 to the brokenline showing therein and which action tilts the mercury switch 40 whichin turn breaks the circuit to the motor 22 and stops the feed belt 2 1.Simultaneously, the weighing belt 30 starts to move by reason of theenergization of the motor 33 and deposits the predetermined amount ofmaterial in the chute 39 from whence it falls directly into a mold box41 as best seen in FIGURE 1 of the drawings. 7

The mold box 41 is preferably a rectangular open top and bottom box withseveral transverse partitions-therein arranged to define severalcavities so as to produce several cement blocks simultaneously. It isprovided at its opposite ends with brackets 42, 42 which are aperturedvertically and through which the support rods 15, 15 pass. The mold box41 is therefore capable of being moved relative to :the vertical rods15, 15 and is subject to such movement only when being oscillated bymeans hereinafter described.

Above the mold box 41 there is a packer head which includes a pluralityof depending members 43 corresponding in number with the cavities in themold box 41 in which cement blocks are to be formed and which dependingmembers 43 are attached to a transverse packer head 44 which in turn isprovided with apertured brackets 45, 45 on its opposite ends. Theapertured brackets 45, 45 are slidably engaged upon the support rods 15,15 and the entire packer head is adapted to'be moved vertically and intoand out of the mold box 41. Means for imparting vertical movement to thepacker head comprise a pair of arms 46, 46 pivoted intermediate theirends to the brackets 45, 45 and at their outermost ends to the ends ofarms 47, 47 which in turn are pivoted at their innermost ends to supportpieces 48, 48 whichare secured to the vertical rods 15, 15 and held infixed position by a transverse shaft 49. The opposite ends of the arms46, 46 are bifurcated and adapted to be engaged by pins on actuatingchains positioned vertically in the machine one adjacent each of theside panels and 11 and as indicated generally in FIGURE 1 by thenumerals 50', 50. The actuating chains 50, 50 are positioned over idlersprockets 50A, 50A which are vertically aligned and attached to theinner sides of the panels 10 and 11. The pins on the chains 50 50 movevertically with the chains to actuate the arms 46 at predeterminedtimes'as well as other parts of the machine as hereinafter described.

The concrete block making machine includes core mounting body members51, 51 positioned on a core carrier 52 located below the mold box 41 andhaving its ends apertured and mounted on the vertical rods 15, 15. Coreactuating arms 53, 53 are pivoted to the ends of the core carrier body52 and have their outermost ends pivoted on projecting pins 54, 54 whichare also pivoted to the ends of arms 55, 55 which are in turn pivoted attheir other ends to a transverse shaft 56 which is journalled in a pairof doubly apertured brackets'57, 57. The doubly apertured brackets 57,57 are positioned near the lower ends of the vertical rods 15, 15 andsecured thereto while the shaft 56 is rotatably mounted therein. Asecondary transverse shaft 58 is positioned through the doubly aperturedbrackets 57, 57 and extends outwardly beyond the sides thereof. A thirdpair of actuating arms 59, 59 are pivoted midway between their ends tothe ends of the shaft 58 and at their outer or lowermost ends to members60, 60 which are movably relative to the machine. The opposite or upperends of the actuating arms 59, 59 are bifurcated and adapted to beengaged by the pins on the chains 50, 50. The doubly apertured brackets57, 57 are movable with the vertical rods 15, 15 and responsive in suchmovement to the actuation of the pins on the chains 59, 50 and thevariable limited movement of the members 60 on the third pair of arms59, 59. When these arms 59, 59 are in uppermost position they supportthe vertical rods 15, 15 that guide and locate the various mechanismsdescribed hereinbefore and as the chains 50, 50 and the pins thereonbring these arms 59, 59 down, the packer head 43 being connected to therods 15, 15 forces the formed blocks from the mold box 41 onto a palletand lowers them on pallet handling arms hereinafter described. At thatpoint the chains 50, 50 have traversed their downward cycle and arestopped by a limit switch, the machine now is ready to reverse the chaindrive and reposition the assembly, making ready for the next cycle.

Disposed vertically and to the right in FIGURE 1 of the mechanism justdescribed there are a pair of vertically positioned, horizontally spacedsecondary panels 61, 61, tie rods 62 secure the same together and thesecondary panels 61, 61 in turn restupon the foremost of the secondaryframe members 16 heretofore referred to. The members 69 are pivoted to abar 63 beneath the rear portion of the secondary panels 61, 61 whichalso: rest thereon. The ends of the bar 63 are engaged in the sidepanels 10 and 11. The secondary panels 61 define a platen feeding andreceiving station, and metal plates (not shown) comprising platens arepositioned in the lower portion of the area between the secondary panels61, 61 where they are held and individually fed into the block makingmachine. A lifting device which is moved vertically by a pair of liftingchains 50B, 50B and whose upper and lower ends are journalled onvertically aligned sprockets on shafts 59C. The individual platens areguided by a plurality of roller gniides 63A to a position between thelifting chains 50B, 50B where they are picked up by said devices andelevated and moved one at a time into position im- 'mediately beneaththe mold box 41 when the core carrying member 51 and the core assemblythereon is lowered relative thereto. Cement blocks formed in the moldbox 41 are then pushed downwardly by the packer head 43 ashereinbefore'described onto the prepositioned platen which is then swungdownwardly on platen receiving and conveying arms 79 and '80 which areshown in retracted (lowered) position in FIGURE 1 of the drawingsbeneath platen conveyer belts 64, 64 heretofore referred to, and thuspositioned on the upper horizontal end of the mechanism between thesecondary panels 61, 61 so that they are deposited on the platenconveyer belts 64, 64 which convey the platens and the blocks forwardlyout of the machine and to a point of disposal. The platen carrying arms79 and 80 are secured to a transverse shaft 81 which has a bifurcatedactuator member 82 thereon adapted to be engaged by a roller 83positioned between spaced short arms 84 secured to the shaft 56heretofore referred to.

At the time the cement blocks are being formed in the mold box 41,oscillators are employed to insure the filling of the voids in the moldbox 41 and to eifect trowelling of the surfaces of the blocks and toinsure their proper compacted form. The oscillators are operatedprogressively and comprise a first pair of oscillator arms 65, 65 drivenby eccentrics 66, 66 attached to the inner sides of the panels 10 and 11and having their opposite or outermost ends attached to projections 67,67 on the brackets 42, 42 of the mold box 41. When the material isinitially deposited in the mold box 41 with the cores 51 in position asshown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a timing mechanism actuates andenergizes a motor 68 mounted on the transverse frame members 16, 16extending between the panels 10 and 11 which motor 63 operates first inone direction in which the eccentrics 66, 66 revolve and thereby impartshorizontal motion to the oscillator arms 65, 65 and to the mold box 41.When the material is settled in the mold box 41 and the voids filled,the packer head 43 moves downwardly through the actuation of the chains50, t) hereinafter described and limit switches cause the motor 68 tostop and reverse whereupon the eccentrics 66, 66 stop rotation as theyare capable of operating in one direction only and a second pair ofeccentrics 69, 69 begin to operate and drive a second pair of verticallyoscillating arms 70, 70 which are also connected to the extensions 67,67 on the opposite ends of the brackets 42, 42 of the mold box 41. Theresulting vertical oscillation moves the mold box in a vertical planeand has the desired trowelling effect on the sides of the block beingformed inasmuch as the cores and the packer heads are stationary. Thevertical oscillation also produces a positive displacement effect andpumps the material into any unfilled voids and produces uniformcompaction in all areas of the blocks being formed. Appropriate controlsstop the motor 68 as the cycle proceeds.

A main driving motor 71 is mounted in the machine be tween the sidepanels and 11 on an upright portion 72 of a pivoted and tiltable supportbracket '73. A speed reducer 74 is driven by the motor 71 by way of abelt '75 engaged in a variable pitch V-sheave 76 that is actuated by acam 77 driven from one of the main activating chains 56, 50. It will beseen that the speed reducer 74 and the motor 71 are both mounted on thetiltable support bracket 73 which, will, therefore, lift in a tiltingmotion when the tension on the activating chain 78 passes apredetermined point. A mercury switch in the circuit energizing themotor 71 as seen in the wiring diagram is arranged to stop the motor 71when the support brackets 73 reach a predetermined angle. Thisconstruction allows the machine to produce a highly compacted block or aless dense one as desired.

In operation the machine is actuated to bring the several portionsthereof into top position whereupon the appropriate circuit controls areactuated to energize the motor 33 which drives the weighing belt 30which then proceeds to deposit a predetermined amount of mixed concretematerial into the chute 39 and the mold box 41. The horizontal shakingaction occasioned by the oscillators 66 is also actuated at this stageand the main driving motor 71 indirectly drives the actuating chains 50to move the packing head 43 downwardly into the mold box. The weighingbelt 36 is then stopped by a limit switch actuated by the position ofthe packer head and the motor 68 which had been operating in onedirection driving the eccentrics 66 producing the horizontal shakingaction is stopped and reversed whereupon the slip clutches in theeccentrics 66 function with the result that the eccentrics 69 thenoperate and impart vertical oscillation to the mold box 41. The motor 68stops after a suitable period as controlled by a limit switch actuatedby the lowermost position of the packing head 43. The delivery of thematerial fromthe weighingbelt 30 permits it to tilt bacl wardly intohorizontal position as occasioned by the counterweight 38 whereupon thecircuit control including the mercury switch thereon actuates the motor22 which in turn indirectly drives the feed belt 21 and an additionalquantity of material is delivered to the Weighing belt 30 which is thenstationary. The main drive motor 71 controlled by limit switches, stopsand reverses after the actuating chains 56, 50 and the pins thereon havesuccessively engaged the bifurcated ends of the arms 46, 46 to move thepacker head 43; the bifurcated ends of the levers 53, 53 to move thecore as semblies downwardly out of the mold box and to swing the platenand block receiving arms 79 and 80 upwardly to receive the blocks andhave actuated the bifurcated ends of the arms 59, 59 which move the rods15 downwardly together with the packing head to push the blocks out ofthe mold box onto the platens. The main drive motor 71 is thenre-energized to reposition the pins on the chains 56, 56 in uppermostposition whereupon all of the mechanisms have completed one cycle andthe machine is in position for starting another cycle.

By referring to the drawings and FIGURE 5 in particular, a diagram ofthat portion of the electrical circuit which is directly related to thefeed conveyer belt 21 may be seen. It will be observed that the feedconveyer belt motor 22 is a three-phase motor in a three line circuitincluding circuit breakers 85, three-phase starter contacts 86, andincorporating overload switches 87 so arranged that two of the circuitwires are controlled by a control circuit section including a controltransformer 88, fuse 89, and manual and automatic selector switches 90and 91 respectively. A cam driven limit switch 92 is included in thecontrol circuit and the mercury switch, the position of which iscontrolled by the tiltable mounting 27, is indicated by the numeral 93.A starter magnetic coil 34 and overload controls 95 complete thecircuitry which will be understood by those skilled in the art asnecessary for the timed sequence or cycling operation of the feed belt21.

By referring now to FIGURE 6 of the drawings and the uppermost portionthereof, the three-phase motor 33 of the weighing conveyor 30 isindicated together with the three-phase wiring necessary incorporatingoverload switches 96, three-phase starter contacts 97 and threephasecircuit breakers 93. The control section of the three-phase circuitryincludes a control transformer 99, a control circuit fuse 160, andmanual and automatic selector switches 161 and 162 respectively. Thisportion of the control circuit includes a cam driven limit switch 163,starter magnetic coil 164 and overload contacts 105. The next lowerportion of the diagram comprising FIG- URE 6 includes the three-phase ormain drive motor 71, overload switches 106, the forward three-phasestarter contacts 197, the reverse three-phase starter contacts 103, thethree-phase circuit breakers 109, the control section transformer 110,fuse 111, manual and automatic selector switches 112 and 113, thestarter magnetic coil auxiliary contact 114, the cam driven limitswitches 115 and 116, forward starter magnetic coil 117, the chain driveoverload mercury switch 118, starter coil magnetic interlocks 119, thereverse starter magnetic coil 126, the relay coil 121, its associatedrelay contacts 122. The next lower or third portion of the circuitdiagram comprising FIGURE 6 relates to the control of the vibrator motor68, three-phase circuit wires therefor which incorporate overloadswitches 123. The forward three-phase starter contacts 124, the reversethree-phase starter contacts 125, the three-phase circuit breaker 126,the control section transformer 127 and fuse 128, the manual andautomatic selector switches 129 and 130, interlock contact from thechain drive relay 131, the starter magnetic coil contacts 132 and 132,the forward starter magnetic coil 133, relay coil 134, starter coilmagnetic interlocks 135, and overload contacts 136.

It will thus be seen that a concrete block making machine has beendisclosed which incorporates several completely novel structures anddevices in an assembled machine which are interconnected andinterrelated so that the various devices co-operate in an appropriatetime cycle for the eflicient operation of the machine as hereinbeforedescribed. The principal point of novelty in the present disclosure isthe portion or portions of the concrete block making machine whichautomatically feed and accurately weigh the material and deliver thesame to the '7 mold box for processing by the other portion of themachine, and having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a machine for making concrete blocks and comprising a verticalsupporting framework, cross members in said framework; resilient membersin said cross members, and a pair of vertically positioned rods movablymounted in said resilient members, a mold box for receiving a cementmixture positioned between said rods and secured thereto, a coreassembly and a support base therefor movably mounted on said verticalrods beneath said mold box for registry vertically into and out of saidmold box and a packer head movably mounted on said vertical rods abovesaid mold box and movable vertically into and out of said mold box,means on said framework for imparting horizontal and vertical vibratingmotion to said mold box, rods, core assembly, support base and packerhead as permitted by said resiliently mounted rods, means for deliveringpredetermined quantities of material into said mold box, said meanscomprising an elevated feed hopper having a discharge opening in theupper portion of said machine, a horizontally disposed endless feed beltpositioned immediately below said feed hopper so as topartially'restrict said discharge opening of said feed hopper, means forimparting driving motion to said feed belt to move said material, anormally horizontally disposed endless weighing belt tiltably positionedbeneath said feed belt and extending outwardly therefrom and having oneend disposed in a position for delivering material therefrom into saidmold box, pivoted support means in said framework tiltably mounting saidweighing belt, means for imparting driving motion to said weighing beltand control means on said weighing belt support means responsive to theposition thereof for controlling said means for imparting driving motionto said feed belt.

2. The improvement in the concrete block making machine set forth inclaim 1 wherein said pivoted support means for tiltably mounting saidendless weighing belt comprises a sub frame having rollersat itsopposite ends over which said endless weighing belt is trained, supportbrackets at the opposite sides of said sub frame, said means for drivingsaid feed belt being attached to said support brackets, and secondarysupport means pivotally mounting said support brackets and said subframe in said framework of said machine and arranged so that thedepositing of a predetermined amount of material on said weighing beltby said feed be'lt causes said feed belt, sub frame and brackets totilt.

3. The improvement in the concrete block making machine set forth inclaim 1 and wherein a pair of endless actuating chains are disposedvertically and journalled over vertically aligned pairs of sprockets insaid machine, means in said machine for imparting motion to saidactuating chains, projecting pins on said chains, actuating arms pivotedto said core assembly support base for engagement with said pins on saidactuating chains for moving said core assembly support base and coreassembly relative to said vertical rods, secondary actuating arms onsaid packer head arranged for engagement with said projecting pins formoving said packer head relative to said vertical rods and meanscontrolling the operation of said weighing belt actuated by saidactuating chains and arranged to operate said weighing belt when saidpacker head is in elevated position on said rods relative to said moldbox.

4. The improvement in the concrete block making ma- 8 chine set forth inclaim 1 and wherein a first sub frame is positioned in said machine on ahorizontal plane immediately below the discharge opening of said feedhopper, rollers journalled on the opposite ends of said first sub frameand wherein said feed belt is trained over said rollers on said firstsub frame.

5. The improvement in the concrete block making machine set forth inclaim 4 and wherein said means for imparting motion to said feed beltcomprises a motor, a gearbox driven by said motor, a drive shaft on saidgearbox having a sheave thereon, a sheave on one of said rollers on saidfirst sub frame and a continuous flexible driving member engaged oversaid sheaves whereby motion of said motor and said drive shaft of saidgearbox is imparted to said feed belt.

6. In a machine for making concrete blocks and comprising a framework,rubber bushings in said framework, a pair of vertically positioned,horizontally spaced rods movably mounted in said rubber bushings in saidframework, a mold box positioned between said rods .and secured thereto,a core' assembly movably mounted on said rods and normally disposedbeneath said mold box and arranged for temporary registry in said moldbox, a

packer head movably mounted on said rods above said mold box andarranged for temporary registry in said mold-box and means for impartingvertical motion to said core assembly and said packer head to move thesame relative to said rods, said means comprising a pair of actuatingchains positioned vertically in said machine,

means for imparting controlled motion to said actuating chains, pins onsaid actuating chains and means on said ,packer head and on said coreassembly for selectively engaging said pins on said actuating chains insequence,

means for vibrating said moldbox, rods, packing head and core assemblyhorizontally and vertically, means for delivering a predeterminedquantity of mixed concrete block making material into said mold box,said means comprising a feed belt horizontally disposed in the upperportion of said machine, a counterweighted weighing belt positionedbelow said feed belt and extending outwardly from one end thereof andmeans tiltably supporting said weighing belt, one end of said weighingbelt arranged to deposit material in said mold box and means forselective ly operating said feed belt and weighing belt in sequence andmeans on said weighing belt controlling said means for operating saidfeed belt.

7. The improvement in the concrete block making ma chine set forth inclaim 6 and wherein said means for imparting controlled motion to saidactuating chains comprises a principal drive motor disposed in saidmachine, a reducing unit positioned adjacent said motor and operativelyconnected thereto so as to be driven thereby and an operating drivemember connecting said reducing unit and at least one of said actuatingchains and limit switches in said machine adjacent at least one of saidactuating chains for controlling said principal drive motor.

References Cited in the'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. IN A MACHINE FOR MAKING CONCRETE BLOCKS AND COMPRISING A VERTICALSUPPORTING FRAMEWORK, CROSS MEMBERS IN SAID FRAMEWORK; RESILIENT MEMBERSIN SAID CROSS MEMBERS, AND A PAIR OF VERTICALLY POSITIONED RODS MOVABLYMOUNTED IN SAID RESILIENT MEMBERS, A MOLD BOX FOR RECEIVING A CEMENTMIXTURE POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID RODS AND SECURED THERETO, A COREASSEMBLY AND A SUPPORT BASE THEREFOR MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID VERTICALRODS BENEATH SAID MOLD BOX FOR REGISTRY VERTICALLY INTO AND OUT OF SAIDMOLD BOX AND A PACKER HEAD MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID VERTICAL RODS ABOVESAID MOLD BOX AND MOVABLE VERTICALLY INTO AND OUT OF SAID MOLD BOX,MEANS ON SAID FRAMEWORK FOR IMPARTING HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL VIBRATINGMOTION TO SAID MOLD BOX, RODS, CORE ASSEMBLY, SUPPORT BASE AND PACKERHEAD AS PERMITTED BY SAID RESILIENTLY MOUNTED RODS, MEANS FOR DELIVERINGPREDETERMINED QUANTITIES OF MATERIAL INTO SAID MOLD BOX, SAID MEANSCOMPRISING AN ELEVATED FEED HOPPER HAVING A DISCHARGE OPENING IN THEUPPER PORTION OF SAID MACHINE, A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED ENDLESS FEED BELTPOSITIONED IMMEDIATELY BELOW SAID FEED HOPPER SO AS TO PARTIALLYRESTRICT SAID DISCHARGE OPENING OF SAID FEED HOPPER, MEANS FOR IMPARTINGDRIVING MOTION TO SAID FEED BELT TO MOVE SAID MATERIAL, A NORMALLYHORIZONTALLY DISPOSED ENDLESS WEIGHING BELT TILTABLY POSITIONED BENEATHSAID FEED BELT AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY THEREFROM AND HAVING ONE ENDDISPOSED IN A POSITION FOR DELIVERING MATERIAL THEREFROM INTO SAID MOLDBOX, PIVOTED SUPPORT MEANS IN SAID FRAMEWORK TILTABLY MOUNTING SAIDWEIGHING BELT, MEANS FOR IMPARTING DRIVING MOTION TO SAID WEIGHING BELTAND CONTROL MEANS ON SAID WEIGHING BELT SUPPORT MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THEPOSITION THEREOF FOR CONTROLLING SAID MEANS FOR IMPARTING DRIVING MOTIONTO SAID FEED BELT.